User blog:FMJGAMING/Condition Zero (Volume 1)
Condition zero Prologue Click, click, click.... A single man, who appears to be in his late teens is loading a sleek, grey rifle that is almost half his height on a cliff side. This weapon is the M24 SWS, The former standard issue US Army sniper weapon system. Chambered in .308 Winchester, it has been superseded by the more modern M2010 Improved Sniper Rifle chambered in .300 Winchester magnum but even so, this rifle is still lethal out to 900 yards or further in the right hands. He stopped loading, closed the bolt, and peered through the scope. Below him, it was a scene right out of Middle Ages Europe. A huge battlefield with hundreds, perhaps thousands of soldiers clashing swords, spears, and shields. But at the same time, fantasy elements such as dragons, goblins, and beast men were also in the mix. But It did not matter to him. What mattered was his objective. He scanned the battlefield, looking for his target. Then he found it. A middle aged man, sitting about 1.3 kilometers away from him, was overlooking the battle and giving orders. Gotcha. ''He thought. Despite his target being almost 500 meters out of his maximum effective range, he was unfazed. He looked at the dust kicked up by the wind and the direction the shadow of his body was moving. He seemed to ponder about them, and then placed his crosshairs on his target. He then aimed above his target by 5 dots and to the left by 3 dots. This was done in compensation of multiple factors such as bullet drop, wind, Coriolis effect, and spin drift. When he was done with the mental calculations of his shot and made final adjustments, he placed his finger on the trigger. ''Breathe in and breathe out. Slow and steady. ''He thought. And then he held his breath. Everything slowed to a crawl, his finger creeping against the trigger millimeter by millimeter. After a seemingly long period of time when it all took less than a fraction of a second, the trigger finally broke away and released the firing pin. The rifle fired. Chapter 1: Simon Walker Simon Walker was an unassuming person by all accounts. He had a good family, had great academics, made friends, and was considered above-average in all respects. All except the fact that his family has a military history tracing all the way back to the American Civil War and several of his forerunners had prominent positions in the military with his father being a general in the army, and his uncle a commander in the Marines. Simon himself was mostly uninterested in military affairs and spent most of his time with his mother in the Texan outback much to the ire of his father and uncle. Life was very serene until the day he turned 14 and found out his mother had terminal cancer and only had 2 years left. “What’s wrong mom?” Simon asked. It was a stormy day that night. The platter of rain against the window of their kitchen filled the entire room. In the middle of the kitchen, sitting in a chair next to a table was Simon’s mother. She held a paper In her hands and she was visibly shaking. “Sweetie,” she replied, “I can’t hide it from you any longer..” ''Hide what? ''Thought Simon. “In two weeks you will be going to DC to live with your dad.” “BUT WHY!?” Realizing his outburst, Simon immediately lowered his voice, “I don’t want to ma, dad... he is too rough on me...” “Honey, Simon listen to me, the report just came, I have terminal cancer, I only have 2 years left. At least with your father you don’t have to live all by yourself, Simon?.... Simon?” Looking at his mother, with the face of a dead man, Simon slumped to the chair next to him. ''Krack The windowpane in the kitchen cracked from the force of the rain. Simon’s family photo, which was taped to it, had the crack run right in between him and his mother. From that day forward he was not able to live life as it had been. Knowing that she does not have much time left, Simon’s mother sent him to live with his father in Washington DC. An imposing man by all respects, a hulking mass of 6 foot 5 of muscle, with a extremely masculine air, Patton Walker was the complete opposite of Simon who had a slim frame and androgynous face, something Simon inherited from his mother who is of mixed Asian descent. Patton almost immediately set out to mold Simon into his image making him go through harsh training, the same one his men go through. “HUP HUP GIVE ME 50 MORE PUSHUPS!” Patton ordered. “Ugh...humph...oof” Simon fell flat on his chest, unable to carry out the training regimen his father forced him to do. His father strides up to Simon, picked up a stick on the way, and held it across his neck. “Simon, son this is how you will fucking die, this is what will happen if you don’t man up. All it needs is only one second for the sons of bitches to take you six feet under, and I do not want that...” *cellphone ringing* Patton picked up the phone, “What did you say?..... fuck....” “What happened Dad?” Simon asked, judging from the tone of his father’s voice he could tell something is wrong. “Son, I’m sorry, the news came. Your mother...” He never heard the last part but he knew what it was. Chapter 2: The FNG 1 October, 17, 2035. It has been two years since Simon’s mother’s death. During the time immediately after her death, he mourned his loss and his father was no different. Things soon became harder for Simon. His Father gave him even more grueling training during the 2 years since his mother's death. It was painful but the fruits were showing. While his frame was still lithe he had physical abilities beyond the people of his age and his ability to push through tough situations became second to none. A side effect of all that training was that his body became more well proportioned. combine that with his androgynous face, he was a lady killer by all standards. When he was 18, his father drafted him as a marine recruit. “Congratulations, son, soon you will be a godammed marine and all the ladies will crowd over you. you should be happy” Simon however was mostly unresponsive. His face against the morning sun shining down from the balcony window would have made for quite the exquisite scene, if it weren’t for the atmosphere in the room. “…” Patton looks at Simon and sigh’s “look, I know I have been tough on you but you need to remember that all of what I did was for you Simon.” “… so where are you sending me off to this time, some other place where I have no one to rely on just like mother did?” That sentence really stabbed Patton at a sore spot. He felt guilty but he knew that there are forces out there who will stop at nothing to try to harm Simon and use him against Patton. “look, I know you still haven’t gotten over your mother’s death and how she sent you here to live with me aye, but you need to get over that fact because she did that for your good.” “…” “anyways in two days you will be going off to MCRD in San Diego. the first three days of your stay will be at a top class hotel so treat it as a paid vacation from me” “…” Two days later… “so you dad sent you across the entire country to enroll you here huh? you must have it tough Simon” Simon and his uncle Fletcher walker were sitting in a brightly lit office, with only one window behind the table. On top of that table sat multiple piles of recruitment forms from all across the country. Over the table was a ceiling fan and several of the lamps in the office had European lantern designs, giving the office a throwback feel. “You look pretty tired, here have some of my homemade energy drink” Simon quietly accepts the jar of his uncle’s drink. It was a glass jar filled with a light golden liquid with slices of lemon and lime floating around. It was quite similar to a lemon ice tea, except when Simon sipped it, it’s punch almost gave a sense of euphoria. In a soft spoken tone He told his uncle, “... thank you” “In three days you will start the recruitment training. In the meantime enjoy your stay here at San Diego” As Simon walked out of the office, he heard whispers from the other marine recruits and graduates, “Hey the new recruit has quite the face, did she just come out of the commander's office? Damn son” “Must have have seduced Commander Fletcher with her pretty face to get in what do you say?” “Tch... fucking disgusting, I’m not into guys” Pissed by Simon’s sudden statement the marine graduate had a sudden urge to “discipline” Simon and show his position as a newcomer to MCRD. “The fuck you just say? KNOW YOUR PLACE YOU DAMN FNG” “Says the guy who makes himself look gay, I’m a male you idiot” “Urgh...! You just wait until training, you damn FNG” Unable to refute Simon now that he has established he is a male, the Marine graduate left with the recruit in tow. While walking down the hallway the recruit tried to reason with the graduate. “Chill Felix we are wrong on our part...” “Shut up! I will make that damn FNG know how green he is and put him in place!” Looking at their backs as they disappeared into the crowd of recruits, Simon shook his head in disappointment. “If you were me, my dad would have beat your ass in ten times over” Author’s note: *• FNG denotes to f##king new guy, a term used by some military recruiters to describe those drafted into recruitment training. *• MCRD (Marine Corps Recruitment Depot) a large recruitment base for the Marines in San Diego, California. In Condition Zero’s universe, the MCRD is one of the largest recruitment centers in the US as increased tensions in the east pacific and the Middle East have led to more and more eligible manpower to be drafted into the military. Chapter 3: The FNG 2 October 22, 2035, recruitment training day. It was morning. The birds flew, the sun is rising up from the east, and it was the typical quiet Californian morning. Suddenly the shrill of a whistle broke the silence. FWEEWP!!!! “ALL RIGHT YA GRUBBERS WAKE UP TODAY IS THE DAY YOU EITHER BECOME A MARINE OR GO HOME LIKE A MILK SUCKING BABY! WAKE UP!!” Hearing that, some of the recruits woke up groggily while some almost instantly stood up and did their sheets. Simon was no different. “Uhh sir, what are you doing?” Almost immediately Fletcher dragged out all of the still sleepy recruits out of their bed and dragged them two at a time by the nape of their necks and hollered at them. “WHO GAVE YOU THE AUTHORITY TO QUESTION MY COMMANDS? WHEN I SAY GET UP YOU WILL GET THE FUCK UP! '''YOU THINK THE ENEMY WILL WAIT TILL YOU ARE WIDE AWAKE? HELL NO THEY WILL SLIT YOUR THROAT FIRST! ALL OF YOU SLEEPYHEADS WILL DO 200 LAPS AROUND THE RING '''RIGHT FUCKING NOW!” At first the recruits were still unaware of the situation but as they finally processed what is happening they almost immediately scrambled to the track under Fletcher’s death stare. Fletcher then turned to those who weren’t dragged out by him. “while we wait for those maggots to get their shit straight, you guys will be going to the mess hall to get breakfast. Then we will start calisthenics” Every one of the recruits quietly filed into the mess hall and waited for their fill of the plate. When Simon got his, he took a look at the food. Mashed potatoes, with ham and corn mixed in, bread on the side, and a bottle of water with powdered orange juice next to it. Pretty standard affair. While Simon ate his breakfast, the other recruits finally came back from their punishment Fletcher gave them. Most of them were sweating profusely and barely had the energy to even walk. Simon gave them a glance, then shook his head. Once everyone was done with their breakfast, Fletcher blew the whistle. FWEEEWP!!! “All-right, most of you maggots here are green as hell and out of shape. What the hell have your mothers been feeding you? bird seed? If I had my way I would have booted half of you right back to where you came from but I have a damn quota to fulfill so I will either make you into damn marines, or break your ass trying to do so. NOW GIVE 50 PUSH-UPS GOGOGO!” With that the grueling morning exercise begins. At first many of the recruits make it through without any issues but by midday most of them are panting heavily for air and some even collapsed from exhaustion. “Those of you who cannot go on, after you rest up get your asses to the barracks and clean it up. if I see even a single speck of dust… I. WILL. BEAT. YOUR. ASS. NOW GO!” All of those who weren’t able to finish the exercise stumbled their way to the barracks like zombies. Fletcher looked at the remaining recruits. “Now you guys will be doing CQB training, Felix!” “Aye what is it sir?” “you will be the one teaching those maggots CQB while I go and make sure that those sissies back at the barracks have manned up. I will be back to check on the results. Do not disappoint me.” “I won’t sir.” Of course I won’t because I can beat their asses in no time… especially that baby face. '' After Fletcher left, all the recruits nervously looked at each other. They gave each other a look that seemed to say: “Look, I'm not here to get my ass beat, you go instead.” After seeing that none of the recruits wanted to challenge him, Felix soon set his eyes on Simon. His eyes looked as if they can kill. Witnessing that, many of the recruits gave Simon a sorry look. ''Poor guy is going to get destroyed by him '' “Alright since none of you pussies want to step up and face me, I will just choose one. Hmm… YOU!” “Me?” “yes, you, the one with the baby face. Come up here and try to take me down” “…” He silently walked up to the field and stood about 3 meters away from Felix. He looked at the other’s eyes and sighed in disappointment for his pettiness, and got into a fighting stance. “Get ready, try to take me down. I’ll let you have the first move, come at me” The arrogance was clear, but Simon knew Felix had the skills to back it up if his uncle let him train all the recruits in his place. Almost immediately Simon threw a punch at Felix. Felix managed to deflect it but he was surprised by the speed in which Simon threw his punch. ''Damn! I underestimated this baby face, But you are still not good enough! Felix immediately tried to grapple Simon by the neck now that he is left open and his hand reached for Simon’s nape. Now I got you! Suddenly his vision flipped upside-down and before he knew he was on the ground with Simon’s elbow right on top of his neck. Before Felix can register what has happened, Simon told him, “it is your loss, thank you for the instruction” It was at that moment that all the recruits finally snapped out of their daze. They had just witnessed a fresh recruit completely kick the ass of an instructor. It all happened to fast that they did not even have the time to react. An awkward silence filled the entire area for a few seconds. “Alright ya maggots I’m back from….” When Fletcher witnessed the scene Simon holding his elbow over Felix’s neck he was stumped for words. So much so that his cigar fell out of his mouth. “WHAT THE HELL JUST HAPPENED?” “…” Chapter 4: Target Practice October 25, 2035. After spending a few days getting the recruits to be more physically fit and getting over the shock of of Felix’s ass being handed to him by Simon, Fletcher sent everyone to the firing range. “You bunch get the lucky privilege to try out the guns today. BUT. you will not being using live ammunition for now. No one trusts a bunch of idiots like you wont somehow shoot yourself in the ass.” While the excitement from being able to try out the weapons was dampened from Fletcher’s statement, it still did not stop the recruits from excitedly grabbing the M4A1 carbines lined up in the armory. Some of them loaded up the weapons with blanks and went to shooting area. They aimed at their targets, and pulled the trigger. Click.click.klack. Nothing happened other than the sound of triggers being pulled. “Haah you dumbasses have the goddam safety on for fucks sake” Realizing their mistake the recruits all turned their safety off and proceeded to spray on full auto. Most of them fell on the backs due to the recoil. Simon on the other hand used single shots and controlled his point of aim expertly. After learning their lesson from the previous mishap, they followed Simon’s example and used single shots. Noticing this Fletcher was impressed for once. “Looks like you bunch ain’t so useless after all. Seems like the recruiters got me some actual soldiers for once.” The group practiced how to control their recoil for an entire day until it was late evening and Fletcher decided to call it quits. “You guys have impressed me today. Tomorrow we will be using live ammo and get some target practice in. But in the meantime I have some questions for some of you and Felix.” Fletcher took some of the recruits with him into his office. The recruits nervously looked at each other and Felix was also nervous. At first they thought that Fletcher was going to reprimand them for something they “did wrong” but it was not what expected at all. Instead, Fletcher asked them about Simon’s sparring match with Felix. “So I want to ask you, did any of you see how Simon handed Felix’s ass to him during CQB training?” “No, none of us saw what had even happened. It was just that fast.” “I see, go back to the barracks. We still have target practice tomorrow.” October 26, 2035 It was early morning and the sun had just risen from the east. The usual silence of dawn is broken by the It was early morning and the sun had just risen from the east. The usual silence of dawn is broken by the sound of gunfire. The target practice session had just begun. “On my mark… FIRE!” The gunfire rang out again. Every single recruit on the firing range is holding an M4 Carbine and shooting at paper targets about 300 meters down range in quick succession. The dust kicked up on the target mounds by the bullets made it look like a sandstorm had just passed through the area. It was quite the impressive show of American small arms firepower. When the dust cleared, Most of the targets placed on the dirt mound had been shredded to many pieces by the hailstorm of bullets. Despite the impressive show, Fletcher seems rather unamused and instead issued a new command. “Alright, you guys have proven yourself proficient enough with the weapons now. We will see how far you can push your skills today. Try to shoot at the 500 meter targets.” The recruits all took aim, and gunfire rang out once again. Just like last time, it was quite an impressive show but unlike last time, when the dust cleared, more than half of the targets only had a few hits relative to the amount of shots fired. Seeing this, Fletcher was unfazed, He knew that while these recruits were better than average, they were no marksman by any means. “all of you who had missed at least half of your shots, go to the secondary firing range and practice your aim. The rest of you will be shooting at 700 meter targets.” All of those who passed, Simon included, shifted their aim to the 700 meter targets. By now the targets are only about an inch thick from their point of view and it was getting tough to get a good sight picture on them. “ready… FIRE!” Unlike the last 2 firing sequences, the amount of shots fired by each person in the same time period was more conservative. Spraying at such distances would do little but be a waste of ammo. Most of the shots missed. With some of them hitting their mark. Simon himself took his time with each shot and landed all of his hits. “impressive! the last batch of recruits could not hit shit these ranges. My opinion of you bunch just gets better and better as this training session goes on. So how about this. Of all of you who had hit their targets, The person who beat my ‘challenge’ course will get a high class dinner tonight, on my bill.” Having the proposition of a free high class meal right in front of them, the recruits excitedly jumped at the proposition. Of course they did not show it on their faces, or at least tried to. Only Simon seems mostly uninterested. Seeing through their facade Fletcher knew he enticed them but he was not going to allow them to get the prize so easily. “As for my ‘challenge course’, you guys will need to hit the target I set up about one kilometer from here at least 3 times with a single magazine’s worth of ammo. You will also be timed. The person with the best time and hit count will get the free high class meal.” As for the weapons that they will be using to beat this challenge course, they had the choice of either a SCAR Mk.20, M110A1 or the M39 EMR. All rifles with exceptional range and accuracy. The other recruits also scrambled to pick out their weapon of choice for the challenge and they all lined up to have their turn. Simon, with no personal preference amongst the three rifles, just grabbed the one closest to him. It was the SCAR MK.20. He took his rifle and stood at the end of the 15 man long line. Fletcher beckoned the first recruit to come up to him. “Tell me son, what is your name?” “It’s Carl Harrison sir.” “Do you feel like it is your lucky day?” “No sir, but I sure as hell will make it my lucky day.” “Good! I like your attitude. How about you show that you can back it up by hitting that target back there?” “Aye, sir!” With that, Carl went to a prone position and zeroed in on the target about an kilometer out with his M110A1 which is also known as the G28. He aimed at the metal plate that was about as small as a penny in his point of view by now. Peering through the scope, he aimed a few centimeters above the target and a bit to the left to compensate for wind. He fired his first shot. Krack! Fwomp! It missed by a few feet. Carl fired his second shot. Another miss. A few of the other recruits laughed but Carl ignored them and readjusted his aim accordingly. He fired again. KLANG! This time his shot hit dead center. He shot again, another hit. He fired his third shot. BANG! a metallic ring sounded out. Carl had just hit his third shot. By now the recruits were dead silent. Each of them wanted to surpass Carl in order to get the meal but he soon crushed their hopes. Klang! … Klang! Carl had just achieved another 2 hits on top of his previous 3. He did so all within 30 seconds By then he finally ran out of ammo. “Any other challengers?” Looking at each other, all of the recruits backed down leaving Simon the only one left standing in line for his turn to take the shot. “alright, you’re up Simon.” Taking a deep breath, Simon walked up to the shooting position and took a prone stance. He laid on his belly and took aim. “hey do you think he can beat the first guy?” “I don’t know but I sure as hell wont put my money on him as it seems nigh impossible to exceed the first guy. At best he may match him.” Ignoring the murmuring of the others Simon concentrated on his target through the scope. After adjusting his aim to compensate for factors that will affect his shot’s trajectory, he held his breath. Relax. This is just like hunting the coyotes back on the ranch. Take my time, wait until the feeling is just right. Simon pulled the trigger. KLANG! The first shot had hit! more murmurs from the crowd. before they can even discuss the first shot another metallic bang rang out. Simon had actually hit 2 shots from a kilometer and in less than 2 seconds no less! BANG! The third shot came in an instant. KLANG! It also hit! By the end of his turn, Simon had hit all 10 shots he was allowed and did so all within 15 seconds. The crowd was speechless. Some of the recruits whispered amongst themselves. “Who the hell is this guy? Where did such a person come from?” “Hell if I know. He is probably someone famous in the marksman community” “As expected of my nephew... Well whatever, anyways Simon tonight will get the meal on me unless there are more challengers. Any takers?” There was no takers. Chapter glossary: M4A1: The standard assault rifle of the US military. In Condition Zero’s universe, it has been mostly relegated to limited usage on the front lines by the far more advanced M4A1e2 (which uses a carbon fiber chassis and is chambered in the far more potent polymer cased 6.5x45mm round which has ballistics of that of a .308 Winchester out to 600 meters while having recoil comparable to the 5.56x45mm) SCAR MK.20 SSR: The new semi auto precision sniper rifle of the USMC and is capable of extreme levels of accuracy. M39 EMR: An highly accurate version of the M14EBR which is an battle rifle that is still in service with the marine corps for its high cost efficiency. M110A1/G28: The replacement for the venerable M110 sniper rifle in US Army service. It is capable of a much higher degree of accuracy than it’s predecessor and is more reliable. Chapter 5:Kidnapped November 5, 2035 It has been nearly 2 weeks since Simon came to MCRD and this is the time where he gets to be enlisted in a role that his performance best suits. After reviewing Simons stellar performance along with a few others that he decided was also cream of the crop, Fletcher realized that the only real place for them to show their full potential is in the special forces. He called in the top brass including Simon’s father regarding which they should be assigned to and by the end of the meeting, it was decided to place them in a newly created black ops team. Next morning, Fletcher called up Simon, Felix, Carl, and a few others. “you guys all have shown very stellar performance in one area or another during this boot camp in the past 2 weeks. So much so in fact, you guys are the best cream of the crop I have seen in quite a while. And so congratulations, I have recommended you bunch to the newly created special operations group PHANTOMS squad, short for ‘Phantoms, Hostage rescue, Asymmetrical warfare, New Tactics in Operations and Military Strategy.’” “Sir, does that mean we will be undertaking special training in order to remain in that unit?” “hell yes, who said that you can get into a top of the line unit without any special training to prepare you for the shit you will get into? We do not want a repeat of BlackHawk down for fucks sake.” “so when are we starting our training?” “it starts right now, oh and try not to get ass raped by paintball rounds” Less than a moment after Fletchers statement, a group of men with gas masks descended from the roofs and proceeded to take down most of the group. Simon and Felix managed to get away in time and made a run for the door but then gas filled the room. Trapped and without any way out, they blacked out as the gas started to do it’s job. November 6, 2035, 2300 hours, Unknown location in Nevada “ughh what the hell was that?” Carl groggily awoke as the water dripped on his face. He sat up with his hands in a bind behind his back. He looked around and saw Jack, Simon, Felix, and the 7 other recruit graduates tied up just like him. “hell if I know, all I know is that once everyone wakes up we need to get out of this hellhole. Apparently it is part of out ‘training’ to get selected for PHANTOMS squad.” As everyone woke up, they started to take in the situation they are in and looked around for any possible breakouts but found nothing other than a ceiling window hopelessly out of their reach. The room they were in was 8 feet by 8 feet, and had a height of 20 feet. There was a door on one of the sides but it was one of those SuperMax security doors used in maximum security prisons, which meant escape through that was a no go. “Well since we are trapped here we may as well introduce ourselves?” With that the graduate introduced himself. “name’s Chris, I came from a Montana family of hunters. Got enlisted to the marines because I had nothing to do really. heh, well, this is certainly more than what I bargained for.” The 2 asian males then introduced themselves. “Name’s Go Sung Tae, you can just call me Sung, and no, I’m a Korean-American, not chinese.” “Name’s Lin Mai Ke, Lin is my surname, you can just call me Michael.” The asian female introduced herself, “I’m Vivian Lee, I look towards to working with, uhh… you guys..” And the rest followed, Jose is a Mexican-American with also some African descent whose family emigrated to the United States due to the second Mexican civil war of 2025, and having a hard time integrating himself in his predominantly white community, he enlisted. Krista, or Kris came from a Russian-American family from Brighton beach. She enlisted to make a point that she is an independent woman and can handle herself. Fritz came from a German-Irish family and he often liked to crack jokes with the group, improving their morale. “Say we are in this box right now, but guess what, we are pandora’s box because once we figure out a way out we will give those out there a time to remember.” Jack, Carl and Felix all introduced themselves, then it was Simon’s turn. “Name’s Simon, I come from a Texan family, I’m only here because my dad is that dipshit general” Everyone looked at him in surprise, they did not expect a general’s son to be with them. Getting over the shock, they then started discussing plans to break out of the cell. “well I can only see one way out of this and it that sky window, but it is like 20 feet up there and there are no handholds for us to use, anyone got any better ideas?” “well before that we need to do something about the damn binds first knucklehead.” Looking at each other while the others discussed escape plans, Simon beckoned to Felix to come over while tugging at his bedsheets. Felix, seeing this, promptly complied. They then slid next to each other with their backs to the other, and Simon, working with Felix, grabbed his bedsheets, and they promptly proceeded to rip it to thin pieces. Simon tied the pieces together with some difficulty, and then formed a thin rope out of it. “So what use will this be? I can’t see this as anything but a mere rope.” “just watch and learn.” Simon the wrapped the rope around Felix’s binds between his arms, and then tied a loop. “Ok I need you now to pull as hard as you can with your arms.” “why?” “just do it dammit.” “ok ok you’re the boss” Simon promptly then started to pull one side of the rope loop continuously while Felix pulled his arms away from Simon as hard as he can. At first nothing happened. But soon the rope of the binds started to smoke as the friction started to heat it up quickly. The bind soon started to fray and soon all that was left was several strands that Felix can snap by himself. Rubbing his wrists, Felix looked at Simon with a look of respect in his eyes, if it was him, he would never have thought of this method. “what are you looking at? help me with my binds first we will sweet talk later.” Feeling insulted but still grateful, Felix promptly untied Simon and they both stood up. The entire group then noticed that Felix and Simon were untied and had looks of surprise as they untied them one by one. “Where did you learn how to do that? I’ve never thought of using a rope as a saw to break binds.” “Don’t ask, every time I remember that time in the shack I get really pissed off by how helpless I was back then.” “So our hands are now free, but what’s next? We cant expect to climb to that window or break out of the door either.” “We can boost each other up there, and try and see if we can push the thing open.” “I doubt we can get very far as the guy on the bottom can’t possibly support all of our weight.” As the group was discussing their next move they heard footsteps from the door. Almost immediately they faced their back away from the door’s viewing slit and pretended to still be bound. A pair of eyes looked through the slit. “hey jackass, let us out you fuckface.” “yeah come on, are you so scared that you have to lock us behind a steel door 2 inches thick? grow some balls Kiska!” 1 Visibly pissed, but staying calm, the person behind the door ignored their jeers and slid a few plates of bread with cream cheese and butter spread on them with some bowls of water. “This is your dinner, and you lot better get ready because this is part of your training session and you better be prepared because if you don’t manage to get out by next evening you will be in for a hell of a time.” “piss off puto, cause I will find a way out and give you an ass whoopin that will make even my dad proud.” Ignoring the insult, the Guard closed the slits and went back to whatever he needs to do. “oh well, might as well eat up since we are all hungry as hell aren’t we?” With Fritz’s statement as the cue, everyones stomach growled. They each grabbed a slice of the bread with the spread and silently ate until there were only one slice left. Sung was about to grab it but Simon then stopped him. “what the hell man, let me have my dinner at least!” “Fatass, there is a better way to use this piece of bread, you just watch and learn” Tying all of the ropes he collected from everyone’s bind and the bedsheet pieces, Simon made a 50 foot long roll of rope and he tied multiple knots on one end. He then tied multiple loops along it’s length. He then proceeded to throw that end at the window on the ceiling and it looped around one of the bars and the knotted end fell down. Simon proceeded to tie off the knotted end to the loose end and with that he made a rope ladder to the skylight window in the ceiling. He climbed up the rope ladder and inspected the metal bars, twisting some of them. when he came to a particular bar, he twisted it several times, then applied the butter and cream into the seams where the bars connects to the frame of the window. He gave it a few more twists until that bar started to rattle. Everyone held their breath. Three, two, one. Simon the proceeded to yank at the bar and it came free almost noiselessly as it had been lubricated by the butter and cream. Fritz almost shouted in delight but Vivian managed to stop him just in time by covering his mouth and reminded that they are attempting a escape, he shut his mouth. “all right, one by one all of you, the bars can hold, but I’m not so sure about the rope.” 'Chapter 6:Breakout part 1' November 6, 2035, 2330 hours, Unknown location in Nevada... One by one the group climbed their way out of their cell, when the last person came out, they sat on the roof contemplating their next course of action. “Ok so we are out but what the hell are we supposed to do about these barbed wire over there?” Just in front of them was the fence perimeter. It was only 5 meters away from them and was literally in reach with a jump. However it was covered to the brim with barbed wire, each individual blade shining under the full moonlight. Michael then spoke up. “I can use the bars Simon took off to make a bridge we can step on and cross” However everyone just glared at him as if he was insane and he immediately abandoned that plot. It was at that moment that a guard came around the corner with a flashlight shining down the narrow corridor below them. Everyone became deathly quiet and hunkered down waiting for the guard to pass. When he was about to turn around the next corner Simon jumped down and tackled the guard with his entire body weight. Everyone else jumped in and together they incapacitated the poor guy and tied him up with the rope they had. “Why the hell did you do that?! Are you insane?!” Simon just silently rummaged through the unconscious guards pockets until he found something and pulled out a set of keys. “If we cant get out, then we don’t. We will take the fight right to their doorstep.” “Don’t tell me that these keys...” “Yep. They are the keys to the armory. We are going to ransack it clean, then get the hell out. And along the way, show them that we are not to be screwed with.” “Kid, I’m starting to like you better and better.” After making sure that the rope bind and gag was secure, they promptly headed to the armory. When they opened the door to the armory, it was a scene right out of the Terminator 2 weapon room. Rows of racks and each one has a weapon hanging from them. MP5’s, M4A1E2’s, MK14’s, and more. Underneath those racks were boxes of ammo separated into 2 different stacks. The left one was labeled “sim-munitions” and the right one “Live Rounds” with a “Caution” tapes next to it. “So what are we going to do? What do we grab?” “Just grab what you are proficient with and roll with that” On that note, everyone walked up to the rack and took a weapon and packed at least 300 rounds of the sim-munitions to go along with it. Simon grabbed an Mk-14 EBR and after giving it a second look, mounted a suppressor and 10x scope on it. He then proceeded to grab an sidearm randomly from the pistols rack. What he got was a LAR Grizzly Mk.V chambering the monster .50 AE. “Allright, lets get the hell outta here did they not say that we have to get out by next evening?” “Yeah, just survive this until tomorrow night and we can finally be let...” “What the fuck are you lot doing here?” Sung promptly gun bashed the guard but not before he hit the alarm. All the lights in the base turned red and the clattering of footsteps in the hallways drew close. “Well fuck sneaking out of here I guess. LIGHTS OUT!” Phish phish krack krack And with that the entire room went dark.... 'Chapter 7 Breakout part 2' November 6, 2035, 2400 hours, Unknown base in Nevada... The room was completely dark, with no lights, nothing. Yet the oppressive air it gave off caused the guards to be vigilant. “Hey Ian I can’t see shit in here do you have a flashlight or something?” “Will do John, and be careful, while they may be new graduates they already broke out of their cell. Let’s call for backup as an precaution” John replies “Aww come on they are just recruits!” As he walked into the armory with the flashlight “No way in hell they can break out of....” Klink klink A flash bang dropped onto the ground in front of Johns feet. Ahh fuck.... POP! Phish-phish-pop! The grenade went off blinding both Ian And John as they got littered with rubber Sim-munition bullets. “Ow ow ow! That fucking hurts ow!” “so long, you both are now considered KIA” and with that, he proceeded to pistol whip both of them unconscious. “did you really have to go that far at all amigo?” “Я говорю, что это служит им правильно (I say it serves them right) and besides, one of them was that same asshole who served us our food” “Hey we ain’t got time to chit-chat here because more assholes inbound!” More guards poured into the narrow corridor and they filled the entire hallway with rubber bullets. The sound of gunfire echoed about the entire base. In less than 2 seconds the entire stretch of hallway from the Armory door to the closest corner became a no man’s land, with neither side showing sides of letting up. Ching! “Vivian, FUCKING GRENADE!” Having no time to react to it at all, she simply kicked the grenade back out the door way and with only moments to spare, the simulation grenade went off with a bang and flash, and the entire world whited out in Simons eyes…. November 7, 2035, 0450 hours. It has been over 4 hours since the initial fire exchange. The hallways of the base was a mess, with garbage bins and tables strewn about in a manner that suggest that they were used as cover. More than half of the lights have been damaged and some were even sparking. And in the midst of a room at the end of one of the hallways, a pile of knocked out guards lay in the center in front of a man in his 50’s.“Is that the last of them?” “Seems like it. But damn are those guys persistent. Even when out of ammo they pulled their batons on us” “Umm so do we pass?” Looking at the base commander, everyone was waiting for his answer. “I don’t have the authority to say whether you passed or not but I’m pretty sure top brass will be tearing their hairs out dealing with the paperwork.” “So you are telling me that after all of this shit we had to go through, you don’t even know if we qualify?” The base commander slowly nodded. “You son of a...” Pulling back his fist he was about to deliver a punch but Simon stopped him. “It’s pointless. We might as well wait for someone higher up to come and give us answers.” Unclenching his fist, then taking a deep breath, Michael exhaled. “I guess you are right. Sorry, I just hate the fact we went through all that fighting and it could potentially all go down the shitter.” “Well, even if we don’t get in at least they will know we are not to be fucked with” “you and your hot headed attitude in your quest to prove you are an independent woman…” “what did you say?” “nothing…” (WIP, more chapters to come...) Author's note: Things are finally getting interesting eh? Category:Blog posts